3 WEEKS FOR RETAINER???!?

[Nicholszelaya]

Hi everyone, I'm in a huge dilemma. My brother accidental threw out my top retainer on Friday Dec. 15th and I couldn't get an appointment with my orthodontist for a new retainer until Jan. 3rd ( I think due to the holiday + my orthodontist only goes to my dentist two days of the week). I go in the 3rd and they tell me I can get a new retainer but the gap (which has formed due to no retainer obv.) will not fully close. Doctor is telling me I waited to long ( personally I don't think I did it wasn't only 2.5 weeks at that time with no retainer) and at this point I'll need braces again. And so then she tells me the retainer will take 3 weeks to come in, which I don't understand because when I got my original retainer it came in less than a week. They call the place to see if I can get it dipped faster and they said they could that I could get it in the 16th which is this Monday. I get a call today and she's telling me it won't be here till the 24th, and I'm livid right now. My teeth are moving, doctor refuses to do a retainer treatment, I honestly don't think this retainer will fit because from the 3rd to 24th my teeth have been moving. I'm not sure what to do next, $4000 were paid for the braces and I feel like they're purposely making me not get a retainer so I have no choice but to get a retainer. Is three weeks normal? Will this new retainer even fit?

[Nicholszelaya]

[quote="Nicholszelaya"]Hi everyone, I'm in a huge dilemma. My brother accidental threw out my top retainer on Friday Dec. 15th and I couldn't get an appointment with my orthodontist for a new retainer until Jan. 3rd ( I think due to the holiday + my orthodontist only goes to my dentist two days of the week). I go in the 3rd and they tell me I can get a new retainer but the gap (which has formed due to no retainer obv.) will not fully close. Doctor is telling me I waited to long ( personally I don't think I did it wasn't only 2.5 weeks at that time with no retainer) and at this point I'll need braces again. And so then she tells me the retainer will take 3 weeks to come in, which I don't understand because when I got my original retainer it came in less than a week. They call the place to see if I can get it shipped faster and they said they could that I could get it in the 16th which is this Monday. I get a call today and she's telling me it won't be here till the 24th, and I'm livid right now. My teeth are moving, doctor refuses to do a retainer treatment, I honestly don't think this retainer will fit because from the 3rd to 24th my teeth have been moving. I'm not sure what to do next, $4000 were paid for the braces and I feel like they're purposely making me not get a retainer so I have no choice but to get braces. Is three weeks normal? Will this new retainer even fit?[/quote]

[testimony777]

I can only imagine how frustrating this must be for you. I can't speak to whether this is a normal wait time But I wanted to share that I recently heard of orthodontists putting "dimples" in a retainer (the clear kind at least) that can accomplish some minor movements (another term was a "fix retainer"). There are a couple different videos on YouTube about people having this done to fix teeth that have moved due to not wearing retainer. Maybe you can talk to your orthodontist about doing something like this once your new retainer comes in. I hope everything works out for you.

[Michu]

To be honest it is long.....I'm pretty sure they have to send it to the dental lab for them to do it. Some orthos do it in their office. I have a retainer now with me, but I ordered a new one from a different place called sporting smiles which they send you a package for you to do your own impressions and you send them the package back. Within 2 week you get your retainers back and if you need it asap 1 week, which they charge you for it. Orthodontist charges you a lot for retainers, with sporting smiles i paid $130 instead of 200+

[assertives]

Try asking for a bonded retainer at least for now? That'll minimize the movement for these 3 weeks and would be fairly quick to get.